We have just heard these words spoken by and Angel to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, who on going to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, found his tomb empty.  This empty tomb is the foundation of our Easter hope.  Christ is risen, just as he has promised.  Because Christ is risen, we share in his Resurrection, we too can live in hope.  In the letter to the Romans, St. Paul tells us: 

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, so that we too might walk in newness of life.  If we have been united with him in his death, we will certainly be united with him in his Resurrection.” 

What does this mean, concretely: to die to sin, to die with Christ, to rise with Christ, to live in Christ, to be a member of his crucified and risen Body, to share in his glory?  The suffering, broken body of Christ is all around us indeed.  As the Church, as a global community, as nations and cities and families, we share in that brokenness. But we also share in the promise of renewal, of restoration, of rebirth: of Resurrection.  And this is what Easter, ultimately, is all about.

On this Easter night, we believe that we have passed over.  This is OUR Passover Feast.  In the dark of night, a spark was ignited, a pillar of flame in our darkness: the Paschal Candle lit, blessed, acclaimed, light and life passed on to each of us.  This news of Christ’s Resurrection comes as the climax to a great story: that of God's loving and life-giving covenant with his people Israel.

This covenant with all humanity begins in creation, continues with the choice of Abraham and Sarah and their descendants, finds a new realization in the journey of Moses and Miriam and the enslaved people of Israel from bondage to freedom.  With prophets old and new – Isaiah and Ezekiel, a Polish social worker and a South African lawyer who risked all to defend the lives of the vulnerable and to lead a nation to freedom – we learned that God’s peace triumphs over war and injustice, God’s bounty over poverty and deprivation, God’s wisdom over foolishness and indifference, God’s justice over racism and sexism, tyranny and apartheid, and all the -isms that splinter our unity.  Then, with fragrant flowers and dazzling light, with ringing bells and Glorias and Alleluias, we proclaim Good News beyond our wildest dreams: Christ is risen! Alleluia!  Truly, he is risen! Alleluia!

All four Gospels report the story of women disciples arriving at the Empty Tomb, a vision of angels announcing that Jesus is not there, that He is risen, and the women sent off to report the good news to the apostles.  Unfortunately, many of the Apostles treated the women’s report of the empty tomb as an “idle tale”.  Not exactly the happy ending we were expecting!  But it is realistic.  I’m sure it took some time for the disciples of Jesus to get over the shock, grief, anguish, and guilt connected to the events surrounding Jesus’ passion and death, before they could fully believe in his Resurrection. 

Luckily for us, those women did not give up.  They overcame their fears and refused to be silenced by the disbelief of their fellow disciples.  They continued to bear witness to this Good News.  Eventually, the rest of the apostles, met and saw and touched the risen Jesus themselves.  Word began to spread.  People came to believe, from personal experience or by believing the testimony of trustworthy witnesses, the Good News signified by this empty Tomb: that Jesus was alive.   

The rest, as they say, is history. The same Jesus who rose from the dead returned to his Father and sent forth the promised Holy Spirit to these timid and frightened disciples. From this Pentecost experience, the Church was born.  No longer hiding away in upper rooms behind locked doors, Jesus’ disciples were empowered to speak, and speak they did!  With confidence and conviction, they proclaimed God's great love, the healing power of forgiveness and mercy offered in Christ.  Everywhere they went, they spread the message of Jesus’ life and death and Resurrection.  They were hope-filled people spreading a message of hope, of faith, of love.

A great prophet of hope who speaks to the world today, in word and by example, is our Holy Father Pope Francis.  In his Easter Vigil homily last year, he shared a beautiful message I think we all need to hear:

Jesus no longer belongs to the past, but lives in the present and is projected towards the future; he is the everlasting “today” of God. This is how the newness of God appears to us: as victory over sin, evil and death, over everything that crushes life and makes it seem less human. This message is meant for me and for you, dear sister, dear brother. How often does Love have to tell us: Why do you look for the living among the dead? Our daily problems and worries can wrap us up in ourselves, in sadness and bitterness… and that is where death is. That is not the place to look for the One who is alive!

Let the risen Jesus enter your life, welcome him as a friend, with trust: he is life! If up till now you have kept him at a distance, step forward. He will receive you with open arms. If you have been indifferent, take a risk: you won’t be disappointed. If following him seems difficult, don’t be afraid, trust him, be confident that he is close to you, he is with you and he will give you the peace you are looking for and the strength to live as he would have you do.

In a few moments, together with Barry and Robert, who are to be confirmed, and with Elaine, who is renewing her faith, we too will renew the promises of our baptism.  In a secular world which marginalizes and even ridicules our faith, we will accept the call to live as an Easter People, baptized into the death of Jesus, sharing in his Risen Life.  

So let us embrace our vocation, our calling to live as an Easter People: baptized into the death of Jesus, and so sharing in his Risen Life.  Because Christ is risen, we live in hope: free to grow, free to trust in the goodness of life, in the power of love.  The risen Christ is our hope: He lived and died and rose again so that we might share in the fullness of his life and love: unconditional, mind-blowing, death-defying, life-giving love.  May each one of us know the depth of this love.  May we as individuals, may our families, may our parish community as a whole, become Spirit-filled witnesses to its power to transform our broken world.  For Christ is risen! Alleluia!  Truly, he is risen! Alleluia!